Judges 5:20   (Read all of Judges 5)

From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera.

Judges 5:21   (Read all of Judges 5)

The river Kishon swept them away, the age-old river, the river Kishon. March on, my soul; be strong!

Judges 5:22   (Read all of Judges 5)

Then thundered the horses' hooves- galloping, galloping go his mighty steeds.

Judges 5:23   (Read all of Judges 5)

'Curse Meroz,' said the angel of the Lord. 'Curse its people bitterly, because they did not come to help the Lord, to help the Lord against the mighty.'

Judges 5:25   (Read all of Judges 5)

He asked for water, and she gave him milk; in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk.

Judges 5:26   (Read all of Judges 5)

Her hand reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman's hammer. She struck Sisera, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple.

Judges 5:27   (Read all of Judges 5)

At her feet he sank, he fell; there he lay. At her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell-dead.

Judges 5:28   (Read all of Judges 5)

"Through the window peered Sisera's mother; behind the lattice she cried out, 'Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why is the clatter of his chariots delayed?'

Judges 5:29   (Read all of Judges 5)

The wisest of her ladies answer her; indeed, she keeps saying to herself,

Judges 5:30   (Read all of Judges 5)

'Are they not finding and dividing the spoils: a woman or two for each man, colorful garments as plunder for Sisera, colorful garments embroidered, highly embroidered garments for my neck- all this as plunder?'

Judges 5:31   (Read all of Judges 5)

"So may all your enemies perish, Lord! But may all who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength." Then the land had peace forty years.

Judges 6:1   (Read all of Judges 6)

The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.

Judges 6:2   (Read all of Judges 6)

Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds.

Judges 6:4   (Read all of Judges 6)

They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys.

Judges 6:5   (Read all of Judges 6)

They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it.

Judges 6:6   (Read all of Judges 6)

Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.

Judges 6:8   (Read all of Judges 6)

he sent them a prophet, who said, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

Judges 6:10   (Read all of Judges 6)

I said to you, 'I am the Lord your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.' But you have not listened to me."

Judges 6:11   (Read all of Judges 6)

The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites.

Judges 6:12   (Read all of Judges 6)

When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior."

Judges 6:13   (Read all of Judges 6)

"Pardon me, my lord," Gideon replied, "but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, 'Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian."

Judges 6:14   (Read all of Judges 6)

The Lord turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?"

Judges 6:15   (Read all of Judges 6)

"Pardon me, my lord," Gideon replied, "but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."

Judges 6:16   (Read all of Judges 6)

The Lord answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive."